...And no, using predictive text DOES NOT slow down my overall typing speed.

Genius

Are you using QuickType (predictive text) a lot? Is it good at predicting what you're going to type next?

Myself, I found it is pretty good at predicting the next word I'll type. But in the time it takes me to look at the predictive text suggestions to make a determination as to whether any of the predictions being offered suit my needs at the moment, I actually have to slow my typing speed just a little bit, offsetting any time savings offered by tapping on the complete, predicted word instead of typing it out.

Maybe with time I will train my brain and eyes to operate a bit faster so as to take advantage of the predicted words without slowing down my typing. However, as of the present moment (and I've only been using iOS 8 for approxiately 48 hours), I'll probably stick to old-fashioned text entry with auto-correct.

Zealot

Are you using QuickType (predictive text) a lot? Is it good at predicting what you're going to type next?

Myself, I found it is pretty good at predicting the next word I'll type. But in the time it takes me to look at the predictive text suggestions to make a determination as to whether any of the predictions being offered suit my needs at the moment, I actually have to slow my typing speed just a little bit, offsetting any time savings offered by tapping on the complete, predicted word instead of typing it out.

Maybe with time I will train my brain and eyes to operate a bit faster so as to take advantage of the predicted words without slowing down my typing. However, as of the present moment (and I've only been using iOS 8 for approxiately 48 hours), I'll probably stick to old-fashioned text entry with auto-correct.

Contributor

had it on my windows phone...& windows seemed to retain my frequently used "slang" .... iOS doesn't... things like iono would pop up when needed, but on ios i get "ionosphere"... I need it to get to know me & predict based on me in order for it to be a good fit

Genius

I'm using SwiftKey, and the more I use it the faster I get. I also make fewer mistakes. I had used the SwiftKey Note app some before now. I think that helped. If you keep using predictive, it learns a lot about how you type, what words you use, phrases and etc. I have an instructional paragraph I use that I copy and paste. SwiftKey has learned it and I just type whole words, rather than letters. It is smart.

Genius

If you like QuickType on iOS 8, you can use it in Yosemite. However, it's probably not going to speed up your typing much. In fact, it'll probably slow you down. You have to decide on a finger and send the finger out all the way to Timbuktu (the ESC key) to activate the feature. Even if you send the nearest finger to that key, your left pinky, resuming typing after hitting the ESC key is not the fastest maneuver in the world.

Also, it doesn't seem to work just anywhere. It isn't working right here in the text entry field on eiC as I compose this post, for example (and Apple's very own Safari is my browser).

Genius

I think with all the predictive keyboards, you can type in your full email address several times and it will show up in the word spot. I type 3 of the first letters of my email address and the entire address shows. Some were upset because the 3rd party keyboards didn't show shortcuts. This works as well. I did this one on SwiftKey.

Genius

Thank you for checking that out for me. I don't remember typing Keanu Reeves or Nicholas Cage. But who knows; maybe I did and just forgot about it! I certainly didn't type those many times, so QuickType must be a fast learner.

Here are a few more experiments. I'm only gonna type the first name and the first letter of the last name of three notable individuals and see what gets suggested by QuickType. And the following are names of individuals that I don't use.

Screenshots of QuickType suggestions for the three examples immediately above:

So, there's the proof. Not only does QuickType suggest common phrases, but it also suggests last names of [some] notable people after the user types the first name and the first letter of the last name. Cool! That must be some enormous database that QuickType is using.

Still, why is it suggesting some names (like "white" after "Betty") in lowercase, while others (like "Taylor" after "Elizabeth") in uppercase? Proper names are obviously always written with a capital letter. Any ideas?

Moderator

Thank you for checking that out for me. I don't remember typing Keanu Reeves or Nicholas Cage. But who knows; maybe I did and just forgot about it! I certainly didn't type those many times, so QuickType must be a fast learner.

Here are a few more experiments. I'm only gonna type the first name and the first letter of the last name of three notable individuals and see what gets suggested by QuickType. And the following are names of individuals that I don't use.

So, there's the proof. Not only does QuickType suggest common phrases, but it also suggests last names of [some] notable people after the user types the first name and the first letter of the last name. Cool! That must be some enormous database that QuickType is using.

Still, why is it suggesting some names (like "white" after "Betty") in lowercase, while others (like "Taylor" after "Elizabeth") in uppercase? Proper names are obviously always written with a capital letter. Any ideas?